“What’s going on?” Razer asked, seeing his wife’s pale face and Lily standing in the middle of the bedroom.
“Your wife is interrupting a discussion I’m having with Lily. Out of respect, I’m letting you handle your woman, but she needs to understand that when Lily and I are arguing, she needs to back the fuck off.”
“Razer, he was yelling at her,” Beth defended herself.
“I’m not that crazy-as-fuck father of yours. I am not going to hurt her, but I am going to spank her because she took an unnecessary risk.”
Beth gasped. “Are you listening to him, Razer? He is not going to spank my sister. She’s a grown woman.”
“Yes, she is, and it’s time you realized that. Razer and I are brothers, and you and Lily are going to be sharing this house and our lives together for a long time, so we need to set some boundaries. One is that, when our door is closed and we’re arguing, you mind your own business. She can cry on your shoulder later, but you do not interrupt me again. I keep my nose out of your shit; you need to keep your nose out of mine.”
Razer put his arm around Beth. “He’s right, Beth. Deep down you know he’s right. I would be pissed as hell if Lily or Shade came knocking at our door when I was giving you hell.” Beth looked up at Razer.
Lily felt terrible for being responsible for bringing about this heated confrontation. “It was my fault,” Lily admitted. “I asked Rachel to drive me home after Shade had already asked Pastor Dean. Then I stopped at our house.”
“Lily, it’s not safe there for you.” Beth’s worried face gazed back at her from the doorway.
“I wasn’t thinking about that. I wanted my shampoo.”
“Your shampoo?” At Beth’s dumbfounded expression, Lily felt like an idiot.
“I didn’t want my hair to smell like Jewell’s, Bliss’s or Evie’s. I wanted it to smell like mine.”
Beth’s eyes flew angrily to Shade, her mouth snapping open.
“We’re leaving,” Razer said in amusement. “I’ll handle her. Your door is off-limits when you’re pissed. Got it. Later, brother.” He turned a red-faced Beth away from the door, closing it behind them.
“I will never understand you, will I?” Shade said, crossing his arms over his chest.
“How would you like it if I doused you in Charles’s cologne? If every time you breathed in, you smelled like him?” Lily saw Shade wince at her words as she drove her point home.
She was instantly proud of herself. She didn’t need Beth’s protection; she could handle him on her own. She was quickly learning his weaknesses.
She took a step forward, sliding her arms around his waist and laying her head on his chest. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think. I’ll be more careful in the future.”
Shade’s arms tightened, drawing her nearer. “Next time, will you at least call me and tell me there’s been a change in plans? I almost had a heart attack when the silent alarm went off and I saw you on the camera.”
“I will. I’m sorry, Shade.” Lily looked up at him, smiling in apology.
“Let’s go eat dinner. You can sit there and gloat while Beth throws me dirty looks,” he said in resignation.
*
The Last Riders were exhausted by the time the week before Thanksgiving arrived. They had been busy with the factory since there had been several natural disasters and they had all pulled overtime to fill orders that would benefit hundreds of suffering victims.
Lily could tell by the sense of excitement in the air that it was Friday. The last few Fridays, everyone had been too tired to do anything other than drag themselves to bed, but now the orders were finally caught up, everyone wanted to blow off some steam. Lily resigned herself to spending the night in her room after dinner.
Bliss and Raci practically ran out of the factory after their shift, and Evie wasn’t far behind. Only Jewell, Lily and Georgia remained. Shade and Rider had left to go into town, saying only that they needed to pick up some refreshments for the brothers.
“That’s it.” Jewell taped down the box she was working on.
“Finished?” Lily asked, finishing up her own package.
“Yes. I didn’t think this day would ever end. If Cash hadn’t taken the edge off at lunch time, I wouldn’t have made it to quitting time.”
Lily blushed, hoping the woman wouldn’t go into detail about how exactly Cash had taken the edge off. The woman talked about sex incessantly and had long since lost her reserve about discussing it in front of her. Lily always managed to turn her thoughts away, but every now and then, a comment would get by her, sending Lily’s own imagination running wild.